


Fruits Of The Forest

by Anonymous



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-04-22
Updated: 2002-04-22
Packaged: 2019-05-30 14:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15098093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: She inspects the wibbling, wobbling purple mound and reluctantly separates a section with the spoon. It wobbles on the spoon and when her arm starts to shake it eloquently dumps itself in her lap... She picks it up again and is on track till she rams the spoon into her chin. She seethes as she can imagine Josh doubled over in laughter at her pathetic state.





	Fruits Of The Forest

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Fruits Of The Forest**

**by:** Loz 

**Disclaimer:** Wibble, wobble, yours not mine, wobble, wibble.

**Category:** Romance, CJ/Leo

**Spoilers:** Celestial Navigation

**Rating:** YTEEN

**Author's Note:** Challenge - Jell-o, read here:- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CJ_Leo/message/318. Root canal surgery information here:- http://www.aae.org/rootcanals.html - American Association of Endodontists. Josh's disgusting but true root canal history can be found here:- http://www.saveyoursmile.com/healtharticles/rootcanal.html. 

The dentist had given her an ice pack for the left side of her face but Carol had suggested a packet of frozen vegetables that could be 'borrowed' from the mess and CJ found them much more effective. And that's how Leo found her, lying on her couch trying to divert the pain form reaching her brain, so she wouldn't feel it. 

She'd yelled at Josh again after their meeting with Leo about Mendoza, and then again. Subsequently she'd felt she'd made the pain twice as bad, but she hadn't put Josh through enough hell for her liking just yet. She suspected he enjoyed listening to her try and get out her R's and hearing them come out as W's. 

This was just rest and re- cooperation for round four. After this he was not going to touch anything of hers again. 

"What does one say when the face of the White House is twice as puffy as usual and the voice of the White House can't use the English language correctly." Leo mused out loud sitting in one of her visitors’ chairs. 

She smiled wryly over at him, inspecting the covered plate in his hand. There's probably a big steak under there she thought, and he's going to eat it in front of me. 

"Hurts a lot right?" he asked out of genuine concern. 

CJ picked up the briefing pad, which was filled with one-sided conversations she's been having with Carol. 

_No, you think_ she scribbled 

"Sarcasm CJ." 

_I'm pissed at Josh_

"Aren't we all?” He nodded in agreement. "I came to see how you were." 

_I will never go back to the dentist again, despite the fact that not going was most definitely the reason I’m here now like this. The only thing that hurts more than the pain now is the bill I'm going to get later in the week._

"I bought you something." He said taking the cover off the plate. 

"You bought me Jell-o." she manages to say directing her gratitude through her eyes to his. 

"They have it in the mess, I never knew that. I needed a break so I though I'd come see how you were." 

_I can't eat for another three hours_ she looks sadly at him 

"Oh well, looks like I'm eating it then." 

_I may never eat again; in fact being fed through an IV drip is an attractive option at the moment_

"That'll be a good look in the press room and on national TV." 

_It's purple_

"Yeah it's fruits of the forest or something." 

_There's fruit growing in the forest?_

“Apparently, you know this is how Joey Lucas and I communicate.” 

The bag of peas falls into her lap and she starts laughing for seemingly no reason, he didn’t think the Joey Lucas comment was that funny. Is this what happens when you give patients what is colloquially know as ‘happy gas?’ 

“CJ?” he asks coming to sit next to her. 

She stops laughing as suddenly as she started and winces in pain. When it subsides she starts scribbling away again. Only now he can read as she writes. 

_Send Josh in here in 3 hours with some jell-o and he can spoon feed me as punishment_

It elicits a chuckle for Leo, he gets up, puts the Jell-o on the table. 

She waves her hand bye to him and watches till the purple mould stops wobbling on the plate. 

“My esteemed deputy has wisely put himself in a burrow someplace, am I a suitable replacement?” 

CJ looks at her watch; it’s 3 hours and 10 minutes since he was last here. She shrugs and moves over to the couch where her notepad is. 

_Don’t you have to worry about Mendoza, etc?_

“I’ve lost multiple hairs over the issue in the last couple of hours, better I stop now before I’m bald,” 

_Toby’s on it right?_

“Yeah, oh hey I left some things in my office, I’ll be right back, eat your Jell-o.” he holds a plastic spoon up from his jacket pocket and clasps his left hand over her right. 

CJ can’t deny any longer that she’s hungry; her stomach has become a vocal proponent for her mouth to accept food. Her mouth feels and tastes like she’s just come from the dentist. 

She inspects the wibbling, wobbling purple mound and reluctantly separates a section with the spoon. It wobbles on the spoon and when her arm starts to shake it eloquently dumps itself in her lap. 

She picks it up again and is on track till she rams the spoon into her chin. She seethes as she can imagine Josh doubled over in laughter at her pathetic state. 

“CJ.” She didn’t realize Leo had come back. “You completely missed your mouth.” 

She sighs spooning the jell-o back onto the plate and the plate back onto her table, picking up her ‘talk-pad.’ 

_I was so anxious that I asked the dentist to numb the entire left side of my face, so I can’t feel anything much less judge where it is._

“I bought you lemonade.” He wiggles the straw in the can. “I’m afraid it may be flat though and Margaret may already have drunk some.” 

Her stomach growls again. 

“I’ll help you.” He says gently directing the straw between her lips. They don’t quite close over the straw as if sue to the numbness she can’t tell when they make contact. 

She swallows the sweet, warm liquid, it’s relief from the clinical dental taste, and sucks another mouthful through the straw. She doesn’t feel the excess, which dribbles, out the left side of her mouth. 

“Oh CJ” he says grabbing a handkerchief from somewhere and drying the corner of her mouth. 

“Can you feel that?” he dabs the material down her chin 

She shakes her head no. 

“How about this?” she can see his fingers caressing her lips but she’s denied the feel of his touch. 

This sort of behavior isn’t characteristic of their relationship; they don’t share moments of light, graceful caressing of hands...until now. She isn’t about to lie to herself and say she isn’t attracted to him, like so much a moth to a flame. 

The fact that she couldn’t experience his touch heightened her imagination as to what it would actually be like. 

“I acted inappropriately...” his hand drops to his lap. CJ looks down in an effort to disguise her blush. However if she wants this to go further, she has to let him know it’s Ok, it’s her approval he requires, to let him know it wasn’t inappropriate. 

“I can feel this.” She gently picks up his right hand and places it on her right cheek. 

“I want to kiss you right now, but you probably won’t be able to feel my lips or kiss me back.” The back of his hands glides down his face. 

“I wouldn’t, I’m sowwy.” He has no idea how sorry she is. 

“I have to go check in with Toby, I’ll come back later.” She’s alone with the purple jell-o again. 

She doesn't realize Sam is standing in her doorway watching her poking and prodding at her lip which feels like it is sticking six miles out from her face. 

"You know you shouldn't so that CJ." He announces his presence. 

She inwardly groans, this is going to be bad, Sam has already started to talk with his hands. 

"You have no feeling in your lip, so you could do yourself some serious damage without realizing." 

She puts on her best sarcastic thanks face. 

"You should also brush and floss more often, root canal inflammation is commonly cause by deep decay." 

The last thing she needs is a dental hygiene lecture from Sam. 

_**Leave now !**_ She writes on her talk-pad. He gets the idea regardless of the lack of verbal direction. 

"I come in peace I do." He says waving a white sock around. Right now she doesn't have the energy to go another round with Josh and she dares not ask about the sock. 

_What do you want?_ She scribbles. 

"I was just on the net and I found these, listen to this CJ." 

"Although you might find it difficult to believe this, the root canal has long been a measure of an advanced civilization. Ancient civilizations developed this highly refined method of saving teeth that otherwise would have been lost. Available usually only to the upper class such as nobility and wealthy, root canals were performed on pharaohs, queens and dignitaries alike. Teeth from the peasants were often extracted and sold for transplantation to aristocrats. 

It was once thought that an 'elusive' worm was responsible for causing tooth decay. Many therapies were developed to kill the worm including, in 1728, the rinsing of one's mouth using one's own urine morning and night. Fortunately, for us, this remedy was not effective, and was eventually replaced by other more 'tasteful' remedies. In time it was understood that the clean and complete removal of the nerve was the best way of eliminating the toothache caused by extensive decay." 

CJ had heard enough, he flipped back to the page she wrote for Sam 

_**Leave now !** _

Typically Josh had to be told twice. 

"Owt now!" she verbalizes, standing to tower over him. 

"How goes the jell-o?" she points to the almost untouched plate. 

"That good huh?" 

"I'm calling it a day and so should you." 

CJ nods due fully and gets her coat and bag, following him out of the building. 

"You should go home and knock yourself out with pain killers." 

"I pwan too." She nods 

She manages only to knock herself out till a little after 1 am. Then she's awake and she's been lying on her left side so now she's in pain. 

Not worrying about lights, CJ stumbles to her medical supplies looking for something, anything. 

They're all empty and they bear a big black crosses put there by herself to remind her to buy more, so much for that idea. 

There's one aspirin left, it's used by date was a year ago. She's not going to take her chances with that. Amazingly she puts the packet back in her medical supplies instead of tossing it. 

Looking down at her clothes, cotton pants and shirt she decides she doesn't care, she's in too much pain to worry about how she looks at 1am. 

She grabs a 50 from her wallet and pulls on her full length coat closing it up. It's only a short walk to the all hours pharmacy. 

The place is lit up like a hospital causing her to squint as she walks up and down the aisles wondering what would be best for her as what she had been taking previously was by prescription from her dentist. 

"Can I help you?" a young assistant approaches her. 

Two aisles over CJ can hear a man talking to another sales assistant. 

"I need something for a headache and muscle pain." 

"Sure, we actually have a new product on the market." 

"It can't be a tablet." 

"This one is very easy to swallow." 

"I had woot canal, I need something for the pwain." 

CJ had one ear on the conversation taking place close by. 

"I had woot canal, I'm in pwain." She heads towards the male voice, the sales assistant isn't understanding her. 

"Swallowing isn't a problem, I need a liquid or something dissolvable, something to knock me out." 

"Of course." 

"I had mouth suwgewy, I need something for the pwain." It is as she thought, Leo standing in front of her. 

"She had root canal surgery this afternoon and she needs something for the pain." Leo translates taking some dissolvable tablets from the shelf. 

"Those will work for you ma'am." 

She grabs a packet of Leo's choice of drug. 

The two assistants look at each other in confusion. 

"I didn't know you lived awound hwere." 

"I don't, I had to get in the car and get here, it's the closest 24 hours pharmacy." 

CJ pats her pockets looking for the 50 she tucked away earlier, only then does she realize something crucial is missing. 

"I didn't bwing my keys, I'm locked out." Leo just looks at her. 

"Did you leave any windows open?" 

"I live on the thiwd floor." 

"Well you can't wake your super at this hour, you can come home with me." He says paying for his tablets. 

"I..." 

"Come one, I'll get you drugged up and you can knock yourself out, I'll make you jell-o for breakfast in the morning then drive you home." 

"But.." 

"Or you could sleep on your front step for the rest of the night, I've been there." 

CJ notices nothing of the car ride to Leo's or his apartment when they go in, she's in too much pain. 

She watches him pop two tablets into a glass of water. 

"Mowe." She says pointing to the pack. 

"You can only have 2 every 4 hours CJ." 

"How many a day?" 

"8" 

"Put in 8." 

"CJ no! that's really dangerous, please tell me you don't usually do that." 

"Only aftew woot canal." 

He puts in two more. She drinks like it's from the fountain of youth. 

"The spare bedroom is down the hall." He points in the general direction. He's not being a good host but his back is killing him and he badly wants to drink 8 of the tablets also. 

He dissolves 2 tablets for himself watching her head into the darkness. The tablets are for a headache he is sure is stress related, and back pain from not sitting properly in the chair. The tablets may well not help his head. 

He smiles at the purple jell-o he rescued from the office earlier that night as he rinses their glasses. 

CJ has wandered straight past his guest bedroom and is curled up under the covers of his bad. In the darkness she probably couldn't tell the difference. 

"CJ" he shakes her by her shoulder, it's not use she's out cold. If he had have come in earlier.......maybe. 

He hates the guest room bed, he's glad he doesn't have guests as he'd be ashamed of the bed. 

We're both adults he tells himself climbing into his side. They're powerful painkillers as he's out cold as well soon. 

So powerful he hallucinates, it's an undefined morning in his bedroom and this morning he has company, company like he hasn't had in so long. 

She has ginger hair and perfect pale skin and her lips are feather like across his skin. 

He awakes with a jolt as if this delicious dream was a pay phone call and he is callously cut off having run out of change. 

It's 4:45am and she's no longer sleeping next to him, though he can't imagine why she'd go home this early. He elects to go back to sleep on his slide, facing the spot where she slept. 

Life is even crueler this time as he dreams she climbs into his bad and starts kissing him again. 

"You taste like jell-o." he mumbles between kisses. 

"I was hungry, so I went to the kitchen, it was all I could find." 

* Jell-o* this isn't a dream this is reality. He's been treading so delicately between sleep and awake. His body and brain not yet able to functionally distinguish between dream and reality. 

He could hear her and talk to her, somehow not comprehend it to be more than a delicious dream. 

"CJ" 

"It's Ok Leo." She runs her hands across his lips and face. "You said yesterday you wanted to kiss me." 

"You couldn't feel my touch." 

"I can now." 

"How's your mouth?" Josh asks as they all wait for the President. He's subdued, as he should be. Perhaps he did some long, hard thinking last night. 

"Well the swelling has gone down, but there's still some pain." 

It's not the only thing in her life that got significantly better this morning, she thinks to herself, wanting to grin over at Leo. 

She instructed Carol to get her lunch today from the mess. 

Jell-o, fruits of the forest and she's not eating alone. 


End file.
